First MIC top leak

[HoosierDaddy]

Good thing I ordered a Badlands with MGV and wash out floors. The curtain air bags are a concern though. @Ford Motor Company please fix this now!

Dear Chief1301,
Please know that your Badlands Bronco is now equipped with self washing floors!
With every rain fall and/or car wash, a metered amount of water will be "channled" to the floorboard area to help flush out any dust, dirt and debris that may collect there.
It may help to open the drain plugs on days that have rain in the forecast so that the system can get a complete flush.
We hope you will enjoy your new , self-cleaning Bronco.
Stay PUMPED!!!
The Bronco Team

Sponsored

 

[Chief1301]

Dear Chief1301,
Please know that your Badlands Bronco is now equipped with self washing floors!
With every rain fall and/or car wash, a metered amount of water will be "channled" to the floorboard area to help flush out any dust, dirt and debris that may collect there.
It may help to open the drain plugs on days that have rain in the forecast so that the system can get a complete flush.
We hope you will enjoy your new , self-cleaning Bronco.
Stay PUMPED!!!
The Bronco Team

That's good. So good, Ford will be calling to offer you a PR position soon.

 

[Benzo]

OP reports first water leak and we're already talking disaster.

Moving to Arizona will help. It only rains about 5 x a year.

If a little water leak makes people upset, imagine when monsoon season starts. It may rain 5 x a year, but they may freak out when the streets flood for a little bit.

 

[Efthreeoh]

So many of you are so not ready to own a vehicle like the Bronco. Ford should just pack it in and call it a day. The size of the customer base that really understands what a removable-roof off road vehicle is, is about a tenth of what actually ordered a Bronco.

Lol.

 

[VictoryLights]

OP reports first water leak and we're already talking disaster.

Moving to Arizona will help. It only rains about 5 x a year.

There have been multiple leaks reported on this board. Given the very small number of MIC tops that have been delivered and the much smaller number of those owners who post on this board, if we are seeing multiple posts about leaks it’s not a good sign.

 

[VictoryLights]

So many of you are so not ready to own a vehicle like the Bronco. Ford should just pack it in and call it a day. The size of the customer base that really understands what a removable-roof off road vehicle is, is about a tenth of what actually ordered a Bronco.

Lol.

So it should leak?

 

[Efthreeoh]

So it should leak?

It dripped. In a heavy rainstorm. If anyone thinks the top is going to remain as tight sealed to never leak over the life of the vehicle, especially if they off road aggressively with their Bronco, they are not being realistic.

It's a multi-sectional removable top of a off-road intended vehicle with numerous complex rubber seals that are subject to wear and material degradation. Coming straight out of the first design/production effort, the top will continuously be tweaked and subject to design changes throughout the Gen. 6 lifecycle. I'd say that the top is a serious engineering design challenge. A few drops from a heavy rainstorm I don't think calls for the level of "throw the baby out with the bathwater" responses.

The top, simply by its technical requirements, to be lightweight, easily removable, capable of on-board storage (i.e. small sectional panels), and damage resistant during storage (i.e. molded-in color) at the Bronco's market price point, is never going to be "perfect". Expecting perfection from the MIC top is going to lead to disappointment.

I'm not being a Ford/Webasto apologist, I'm just looking at it from a technical and engineering perspective.

 

[mpeugeot]

@Ford Motor Company check this out please

404, @Ford Motor Company, Not Found.

 

[JTK37]

It dripped. In a heavy rainstorm. If anyone thinks the top is going to remain as tight sealed to never leak over the life of the vehicle, especially if they off road aggressively with their Bronco, they are not being realistic.

It's a multi-sectional removable top of a off-road intended vehicle with numerous complex rubber seals that are subject to wear and material degradation. Coming straight out of the first design/production effort, the top will continuously be tweaked and subject to design changes throughout the Gen. 6 lifecycle. I'd say that the top is a serious engineering design challenge. A few drops from a heavy rainstorm I don't think calls for the level of "throw the baby out with the bathwater" responses.

The top, simply by its technical requirements, to be lightweight, easily removable, capable of on-board storage (i.e. small sectional panels), and damage resistant during storage (i.e. molded-in color) at the Bronco's market price point, is never going to be "perfect". Expecting perfection from the MIC top is going to lead to disappointment.

I'm not being a Ford/Webasto apologist, I'm just looking at it from a technical and engineering perspective.

From a technical/engineering perspective in my industry we need to make sure a $2 bolt is properly spec’d or people are at risk.
I’d like to think Ford can design a top to meet the use scenario they advertise

 

[Efthreeoh]

There have been multiple leaks reported on this board. Given the very small number of MIC tops that have been delivered and the much smaller number of those owners who post on this board, if we are seeing multiple posts about leaks it’s not a good sign.

It dripped on the OP's pant leg after a hurricane past through his area. Lol. OMG! I'd like a bit of follow up like, what was the rate of drip? Was there heavy water accumulation on the floor. Did/does the top drip in moderate rain. Did the OP remove the top and reinstall it correctly?

I look at it as a good sign, that the first top design had a few drops of water after a heavy rain event. It doesn't sound like the top just flooded the interior. THAT would be a bad sign.

 

[Efthreeoh]

From a technical/engineering perspective in my industry we need to make sure a $2 bolt is properly spec’d or people are at risk.
I’d like to think Ford can design a top to meet the use scenario they advertise

A drip from a vehicle sectional top is a customer at risk? I think I laid out Ford's use case for the top in my response. It dripped.

 

[JTK37]

It dripped on the OP's pant leg after a hurricane past through his area. Lol. OMG! I'd like a bit of follow up like, what was the rate of drip? Was there heavy water accumulation on the floor. Did/does the top drip in moderate rain. Did the OP remove the top and reinstall it correctly?

I look at it as a good sign, that the first top design had a few drops of water after a heavy rain event. It doesn't sound like the top just flooded the interior. THAT would be a bad sign.

While parked from 9pm 8/21 to 9am 8/22 on a steep incline(front higher than rear in the driveway) a steady rain fell of approx 1.25" accumulation. There were no visible drips or puddling when entering the vehicle. Upon moving the vehicle from the driveway and turning down hill approx 3 ounces of water poured out of the seam in the vehicle trim. What didn't land on me did indeed puddle on the floor. As I was driving it really wasn't pertinent to take a video, the picture of a residual drip was the best I could do.

After being parked again(now on a level surface) the passenger side exhibited the same behavior.

The top was last removed and reinstalled by the Ford techs while addressing another MIC issue.

I have not had any issues with further leaking when moving. The water only seems to pool when still. The issue seems to have been correctly identified in this thread(same results on mine after investigating). The issue isn't in the top- its in the seals. The replacement tops will have to be completely redesigned to account for this........
https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/threads/water-leaking-from-a-pillar-airbag-cover-in-heavy-rain.19657/

 

[JTK37]

A drip from a vehicle sectional top is a customer at risk? I think I laid out Ford's use case for the top in my response. It dripped.

Risk isn't in the drip, its the water running down the A-pillar through the airbag and associated wiring where there MAY be a risk should the airbag be unable to function as intended

 

[Carolina Jim]

In a heavy rainstorm. If anyone thinks the top is going to remain as tight sealed to never leak over the life of the vehicle, especially if they off road aggressively with their Bronco, they are not being realistic.

So far....Ford's MIC top has a shorter useful life than milk in my refrigerator

 

[Efthreeoh]

Risk isn't in the drip, its the water running down the A-pillar through the airbag and associated wiring where there MAY be a risk should the airbag be unable to function as intended

But in your case, there is no leak in the A pillar. And I'm not going to reopen the litigation in that thread here. But I stated in that thread, the airbag system has a MIL to warn the occupants the system has a fault.

Regardless, I hope it gets worked out for you short term and long term the MIC 2.0 meets everyone's expectations. I expect the top, regardless of version, will leak on occasion and especially after the vehicle ages and accumulates miles.

Sponsored